The Distance Between Us
by Artemisthe2
Summary: The characters are from Pokemon Special. What Lance feels whenever he and Yellow meet each other. Grantedshipping.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Pokemon Special and their characters.**

**This is Grantedshipping. My friend supports it so I thought I'd try a bit at writing a fanfic for it. Reviews would be appreciated.

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Lance stood atop his dragonair, staring down at this new distraction in his plans. Yellow was his name? This boy who looked at him with so much determination in his eyes, not at all ready to give up. He admired that determination, though he found it annoying at the same time as he kept staring at the boy. They were very far apart and he didn't have any intention of closing the space between them.

He was pretty good too, but all that really set them apart was the way they felt about humans coexisting with pokemon. _I certainly don't think that humans could keep living like this while destroying the things around them with their way of life. It would be better, much better if most humans were wiped out, why can't he see this the way I do?_

"You're wrong! Humans and pokemon can live together!" the boy yelled up at him, clenching his fists, "As friends!"

_All that really sets us apart is how we think._

"Go on! Convince me then! Tell me how this can be, even with all these people in this world who will endanger pokemon without a second thought. How, I ask you, can they exist together peacefully?" Lance asked, wondering what Yellow would say to make him change his mind. He was willing to at least give him this chance.

Yellow faltered a bit, eyes wide and lips slightly parted with surprise. From what? Surprise or shock? Surprise from him actually asking this in the midst of battle? Shock from the fact that he couldn't answer it?

"Then, we'll protect the peace!" Yellow answered with the same defiance as before, no uncertainty in his entire body.

Lance raised an eyebrow. This Yellow was a rather idealistic person, huh? He wondered if the "we" included him, but most likely not.

He was almost moved by the outburst, but unfortunately, he had no time for naive ideas that would never work. "Your answer is not good enough," he said, sighing, "This fight is over."

But it really wasn't. Through some miracle, the boy managed to survive and even deal what he probably thought was the finishing blow. But that too didn't signify the end, either.

No, it would go on for a bit more.

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"A girl?" The question lingered in the air for a little more, as if waiting to be reconfirmed again. He stared down at the boy, no girl who was now firmly lodging her straw hat back on.

Lance's dragonite thrust its nose next to his face, in an attempt to distract him from his confusion. He shook his head, wearing a slight smirk on his face.

_It doesn't matter what gender you are, not at all_, he repeated this thought over and over again, finally persuading himself to think nothing of it. After all, it wasn't that surprising. He probably would've found out earlier if he had been paying enough attention.

"Your plan is wrong! Humans and pokemon can be friends!" she argued as she was attacked by him, her resolution not fading one bit.

He thought that she should stop trying to persuade him into thinking differently. She had already had her chance after all.

He stood, looking down at her and watching her struggle to try to take hit after hit. They were so far apart and he was sure that if he closed the distance between them, she would make him regret it in some way. He countered her reasoning with cold laughter and condescending words that did not show what he actually felt.

"Will you give up yet?" he asks, wearing a confident sneer on his face.

"I won't ever give up!" she replies in an instant, the answer that he knew she would give.

"That's fine with me!" he exclaims, but it really isn't.

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He had lost their last battle together and she had successfully stopped him from destroying most of the humans in this world. It wasn't the end though. It wasn't like getting his plans ruined had caused him to suddenly change and agree with Yellow's way of thinking, but he found no need to now that Yellow had managed to make things better by using her powers to heal the wastelands and make things grow.

So he went into hiding, not sure of what to do now. He would probably be wanted for his actions, so the best thing to do was to hide until it was forgotten.

And he met Silver who had been tracking him. Silver was the only one who knew where he was hiding and Lance felt that he could trust the boy with that secret. So when he heard someone walking into the hideout, he immediately assumed it would be Silver visiting to get something from him.

"Hello there, Silv-" he turned around, stopping the sentence as soon as he saw who it was.

Yellow stood there, hair a bit wet under her straw hat, with her eyes staring directly at him. She had a vague look on her face which looked like she couldn't believe that he was there.

"Did Silver tell you about this place?" he asked, crossing his arms and frowning a little. Perhaps Silver wasn't so reliable after all.

"No, I had a feeling that you were still alive and I asked Silver, but he didn't tell me," Yellow shrugged, "So I read the minds of his pokemon and found out more than I expected to, like how to get to where you were."

That didn't seem at all like something Yellow would do. Why had she been so desperate to find out where he was? He repeated this question out loud, furrowing his brows.

"Ah, I had something to tell you, it's been bugging me a bit!" Yellow laughed nervously, fingering the edges of her hat, "That time we first met. Were you really willing to let me change your mind that time or were you just toying with me?"

Lance is a bit surprised by this. _Did she really come here to ask something so trivial?_

Yet again, he noted the fact that they were standing far apart. He wanted to walk closer to her, to actually see her face up close, but he refused to. His pride wouldn't let him and she didn't seem too bent on being closer to him.

It would be so easy though, just to say a few words, just to walk up to her and tell her that he didn't hate her like she probably thought he did, but it isn't like Lance to say gaudy words like "I love you the most" or "You're the only one for me" which can mean nothing at a convenient time for the person who says them.

"Lance? Can you answer?" Yellow's voice reminded him of where he was and who he was facing.

"Yes, I can answer, so what of my question? Maybe I really was serious in letting you change my mind, maybe I wasn't," Lance answered in a tone that meant that he didn't want any more asked about that time.

"Do you still think the way you did back then?" Yellow took a step forward, looking up at him with a concerned face.

_What is she doing? Did she come here to just try to convince me to think her way again?_ Lance sighed, turning away from Yellow to look at the wall.

"And if I do?" he asked, mildly annoyed by her persistence.

"Then, can you try listening to me over this?" her voice seemed closer than before and when he turns back to face her, she was almost right in front of him, still looking up at him with a whimsical expression.

"Sure," he murmured, keeping his voice calm and not letting the uneasiness get to him.

Yellow takes a breath, pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts, "Ever since that day we met, it's always been bothering me at the back of my head. Why would you ask something like that? Did you want someone to change your mind because you knew that what you were doing was-is wrong?"

"Not one bit, "Lance comments, chuckling a little by her words. She was obviously trying to see the "good" in him. She frowned, glaring at him.

"Then why? Why did you ask me to do that?" Yellow demanded.

"It shouldn't be that big of a deal, right?" he mocked, sneering at her flustered words. She shook her head and clenched her fists together. He was secretly glad that she had been so bothered by such a simple action of his. It was reassuring to see that he could just as easily make her feel as uncomfortable as she could make him.

"You're right, I shouldn't have made such a big deal over it, "she smiled weakly, "I have another question though. Do you plan to try to destroy any cities ever again?"

Of course, the hero comes to check up on the evil villain to see if he is up to any of his old tricks. He should've known that that would've been the sole purpose of this visit. _Just go away already._

"Of course not, "Lance replied, giving her a look of contempt. Her eyes widened from the look, but she didn't look away from him.

She took another step towards him, trying to get a closer look at his face to see if he was lying. Lance could only think about how near she was. They had never been this close before or at least in his memories. Involuntarily, he held a hand out and lightly touched her cheek. She flinched under the touch and he withdrew his hand quickly, trying not to show his disappointment. Of course she would be afraid of him, after all he had done.

He forced a grin and laughed, "Are you really that scared of me? How amusing."

She glared at him, clenching her teeth, "I wasn't afraid, just surprised." She trailed off, her face turning a light shade of pink.

"And however did you get here?" Lance inquired quickly, changing the subject, "Last time I checked, you only had one water pokemon."

Yellow grinned a toothy smile as she told him how some wild pokemon had helped her get here. He smiled at the sincere expression. She hardly ever smiled around him, which was not so surprising, what with their "mutual" hatred for each other.

"Lance," Yellow whispered.

"Hm?" he raised an eyebrow when she said his name.

"I'm going now, bye," she turned, waving as he let out a small breath of relief, "See you." He froze.

_Wait, see you? She plans to visit again? What does she want from me? She really doesn't trust me that much? _

Lance sighed, staring at her retreating back.

_What do I do to make this damn feeling go away?_

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_**It be done! Well, I was planning to just make this one chapter, but now I'm not sure, yeah............-insert intellectual comments-**

**I hope it was enjoyable!  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Ah, the second chapter! Hopefully I finish this by now. Thanks for the reviews and sorry for the huge gap in chapters. Didn't have much ideas for a while. Wrote the first chapter when I was half-asleep. Yep...weird, blah...er..  
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**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, except the fanfic.

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**As expected, she visited again, acting as if she was just dropping in to see an old friend. She chatted on animatedly about the things that had happened to her recently, about the new people she had met and about the new pokemon she had encountered. Whenever she talked about pokemon, she looked at him intently to see how he would react to the subject.

He would stare back grumpily, asking, "Do I have something on my face?" She would shake her head vigorously, turning red, obviously flustered that she had been caught.

"How long are you going to hide here?" she asked suddenly, frowning. He stared at her in surprise, then he gritted his teeth.

"What does that have anything to do with you?" he replied, scowling. _What do you plan on doing if I ever do stop hiding?_

Yellow sighed, looking at him with a whimsical smile. "It has to do with me because I'll be introducing you to my friends!" she exclaimed, her smile changing into a careless grin. This laid-back side of hers had surprised him whenever he saw it. He couldn't help comparing it to how she acted around him when they had first met.

_Introduce me to your friends so that they can keep me in line so you don't have to all the time_, he thought bitterly, silent for a while. "And why would I want to meet them?" he scoffed, his scowl deepening.

She glared up at him for the offending question, but didn't say anything.

He noticed more things, like how she excessively talked about this person named Red that she admired a lot from her tone of voice when she talked about him. He listened a little, not looking at her.

"So, you like him or something?" he asked, putting a teasing sneer on his face, managing to make his voice not shake or rise because no matter what, he couldn't let her have any clue as to his real feelings.

He listened for flustered, quick, repeated "No!"'s, but there was nothing. He turned around to look properly at her, his eyes wide. She didn't look like she was going to confirm liking Red, but she probably wouldn't deny it either. He could only stare with his sneer frozen on his face, an expression he had to keep up. He could only imagine what would happen if he were to say anything about his feelings.

She would probably think it was a joke and it would become awkward, making them more distant or she would reject him immediately and it would become awkward anyway. He couldn't bring himself to think of positive scenarios so that he wouldn't be disappointed by them. It was like a game that he had to play, but didn't enjoy playing.

She stared at the floor, her eyes darting back and forth and her mouth set in an uncertain frown. She was blushing a little, but she didn't say anything.

"So, you do?" he teased, "Does he like you?" He stepped towards her, his boots making crunching noises on the stone floor. She glanced up briefly at his face and brought her gaze back down at the ground.

"No, not the way that you're thinking of," she mumbled uncomfortably, looking around for anything that she could change the subject to. He sat down cross-legged in front of her, deciding to stop asking questions for now. Her reactions to them were getting on his nerves. He faked a smile as he changed the subject to something else.

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With her constant visits, it seemed empty when she wasn't there and it wasn't surprising anymore when she arrived, her clothes soaked and dripping all over the floor. It was agony having her visit when he just wanted to be left alone, but when she left, he silently wished the visits would last longer and then he would scold himself for even thinking such a thing about the girl whom had been his arch nemesis before. He couldn't even just watch from afar and pretend that he had no interest of ever having any chummy feelings between them like he had in the past.

And whenever he lost his better judgment, he tried to tell her, but couldn't find the right words. To him, simple "I love you"s couldn't really explain how he felt around her. He could probably go through many sleepless nights trying to put it all to words and end up with a 200-page essay, but he knew that Yellow probably wouldn't want to read something so long and ridiculous.

"What's wrong?" Yellow asked, reaching a hand over to his. He jumped at the tentative, feathery touches from her outstretched fingers and turned to look at her with one eyebrow raised.

His closed hand pushed against the palm of hers and entwined his fingers through hers, closing over her hand firmly. Yellow looked up at him with widened eyes, a trace of panic in them. He hesitated a little before smirking triumphantly.

"Your hand is really small," he murmured chuckling a little before letting go, "And no, nothing's wrong at all. And if anything is, it's none of your business."

Yellow quickly withdrew her hand, a hint of a frown on her face. "Okay, you just looked kind of - never mind," she rubbed her hand, looking off into space. He studied her face for any indication of acknowledgment of what he had just done. She had simply brushed it off, obviously not thinking anything of the action of his. She looked at his face, smiling like she always did and he scowled back, peeved and grateful that she could be so nonchalant. He could feel it in the air though. They had just grown farther apart from that small action of holding hands, even if it was just a fleeting moment.

_If I were to tell you I love you, you would push me away, wouldn't you?_ A cryptic smile was directed at her as he thought this, glad that their shared gift to read minds was limited to pokemon.

"Well, I have to go now," she stood, brushing away small pebbles and dust from her pants as she did so, "Good bye."

He looked up at her, nodding without a word. He didn't want to say any more in case he made the situation more awkward. She waved, turning around and left, her light footsteps seeming to play over and over again in his head. He sighed when she was gone, leaning back to look at the ceiling.

_This feeling...is so confusing..._

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_**Second chapter is shorter than first. Sorry, but making this up as I go along. Yeah, reviews would be appreciated, but you don't have to review...so yeah.**

**I still don't support this shipping, by the way.  
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